A 54-year-old Georgia man was killed Thursday morning after pulling his pickup truck onto the shoulder of westbound Interstate 78 in Newark, when a Honda ran off the road and struck him before slamming into his parked vehicle. Tony Gilliam, of Jonesboro, Georgia, had stopped his Ram pickup truck on the right shoulder and stepped out as a pedestrian when the crash occurred.
According to News12 New Jersey, Gilliam had been driving westbound on I-78 before pulling over and stopping on the right shoulder. A Honda passenger vehicle then ran off the right side of the interstate, struck Gilliam, and continued forward into his parked truck, the outlet reported.
New Jersey State Police responded to the crash on westbound I-78 near milepost 55.4 at approximately 9:34 a.m. on October 8, 2026, per the same report. Gilliam sustained fatal injuries in the collision, which caused his death.
Investigation Still Open, Few Details Released
State Police said the cause of the crash remains under investigation, and the agency released no additional information immediately, the report notes. It is not known from the available information who was driving the Honda, the driver's condition, or whether any citations have been issued.
The stretch of I-78 running through Newark has seen a string of fatal incidents in recent months. In April 2025, a 20-year-old Newark man, Jason Ellis, died after exiting a moving SUV on the same interstate, according to a report from nj.com. And on August 22, 2021, a Newark man was reportedly struck and killed on I-78 while pushing a disabled vehicle, according to RLS Media.
Other Recent Fatal Crashes on the Corridor
This past April, a box-truck crash on I-78 in Newark killed two people, including 35-year-old Chad Hill of Edison, who was ejected from the vehicle, News12 New Jersey reported at the time. State Police later said that crash began when the box truck veered off the road and struck a concrete barrier while traveling east. In August, two women were killed when a tractor-trailer overturned onto a car on Route 78, according to a separate report from nj.com.
Statewide traffic data tells a mixed story. The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General reported that traffic fatalities declined by approximately 15% in 2025, while a later report citing State Police said fatalities had increased 4% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period the previous year, according to nj.com. The available evidence does not establish whether the Newark crashes reflect a broader verified trend on the corridor.
No further details about the circumstances of Wednesday's crash have been released as the investigation continues.
